Monte Vista School
The Independent Learning Academy
Principal’s Message
December 1, 2016
*** Earn a Point***
My last blog talked about being the ‘Caretaker of the Arboretum’
and I ended the blog with this statement, “To tend the garden also means to
coach, with respect; one can’t harvest what one does not sow. My role as a
principal is to guide and to show how our school community can harvest the
fruit of our toil. At our arboretum we plant our desires, gently nurture our
seedlings, and know that we will one day be rewarded with an abundant harvest.”
In keeping with the garden analogy, as we move into our
winter and watch as many of our plants take a breather and go into a dormancy
period, it’s a perfect time to reflect on what our garden produced last summer
and fall, take inventory on our existing crops as well as beginning to plan for
the spring plantings. Likewise, with our
students and programs, as we end the 1st semester and having set
some roots down at our new campus, it’s a perfect time to reflect back. What new initiatives worked, what didn’t,
what do we need to trim, pruned or even pull out and compost? Are there any weeds growing that should be
transplanted into a new environment where they can flourish and become a prize winning
bloom? What crops require a little extra
fertilizer, or perhaps a stake to help them become a bit sturdier and resilient?
We’re no longer being referred to as the old Abe Lincoln
campus, but rather just as the Monte Vista campus. Here’s just a few examples of our growing
crops and programs. Our Zen garden provides an opportunity to clear one’s mind,
while our Curiosity and Imagination Lab opens the mind to new ways of thinking.
Students have an opportunity to explore and learn during our weekly Discovery
Days. Not one but two 3-D printers can
be found in our Maker Space labs. World Languages (Spanish, French & Mandarin)
are offered to not only to our students but to all students that attend
SVUSD. The school has been named a Ventura
County SHELL (Schoolyard Habitat Educational Learning Lab) and hopefully will
become a model to other schools in the county. Thanks to our 4H program, students
are able to watch before their eyes young chickens mature into egg laying hens,
to harvest crops grown by seeds and even hand feed turtles. Struggling students (again district-wide) are
provided the opportunity to make up math and English credits with some of the
best teachers that we have in the district. Students can be found on campus in our
English, math, and journalism labs and hopefully soon in our Study Café. Classes and instruction are being delivered by
on-line programs (APEX & Shmoop), Google Classroom and of course by a core
of talented and passionate teachers. Hands on science programs that include
Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning. Monthly
floral classes have grown from a handful to over 50 active participants. Monte
Vista also is the district’s Professional Learning Center and home to the very
popular WHAMv workshops.
Are we done, I certainly hope not…I expect to see our ‘Arboretum’
to continue to grow and flourish, and evolved to meet the needs of our students. I hope that we continue to dream and to
follow our passions. As Harriet Tubman proclaimed, “Every great dream begins
with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the
patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
***Now let’s earn your ‘point’, reply back to the blog and
let me know what are your dreams for Monte Vista, and/or reflect back on the
past year and what needs to be trim, pruned or even pull out and composted?
